Look Into My Eyes
by Foolsgold Fenrir
Summary: Some say magic doesn't exist. Some call them stupid, others that they need help. Some now have to watch their backs, as the wolf among us is hunting her prey. And when the transformation of the goth girl is complete, you'd wish you took magic a little more seriously. You can try to run or hide, but just as the curse found her, she'll find you. (Collab between Takaluca)
1. Chapter 1

_So, you want to hear a story?_

 _One about mystery, adventure and horror, that will make you question yourself and your virtues as a human being?_

 _If not, too bad, I'll tell it anyway. And it starts like this..._

 _There was a large house, a happy place where a huge family lives, known by themselves and those around them as the Loud family. It was set neatly in a quaint little town called Royal Woods. Most of them took that name to their lifestyle, but a few preferred to stay quiet._

 _One of them, however, uncovered an ancient mystery that would make them ask what they truly wanted in their hearts, and what someone was capable of doing to reach their desires. She was a petite, mousey little gothic girl of about 8 years old, a fan of anything dark, gloomy, or otherwise spooky. She made a deal, putting her entire family and the town close to its demise._

 _There were fights, and love between people was put into test. Our story begins with this family, specifically this petite, mousy goth. And her name was Lucy Loud._

* * *

Lucy was in one of her favorite places in Royal Woods - the antique shop. It contained a wide variety of different items; some had a particularly interesting history behind them, while others were simply collectibles bought out by people with their own little hobbies. Sometimes she just liked to come in to look around and see whatever was new in stock, or continue to study the objects she had already seen.

In this case, she wasn't sure what she had in mind for herself. She brought a generous amount of her allowance with her just in case something caught her eye enough.

" _Looking for something, my dear?"_ A voice came from behind her, almost making Lucy jump like her siblings often did when she popped up behind them. She had to admit, being on the other side of the coin isn't exactly that funny. Not that she would stop doing it, though.

She whipped around to see the shopkeeper. He was a tall and lean fellow with a soft tone of voice. He wearer glasses, wearing a black shirt and trousers, followed by a dark red scarf, and a lot of rings on his fingers. "Oh, I'm not quite sure yet, Ripley. I suppose I'll just have to see if anything… piques my interest." she casually responded.

"Well, if you do, let me know. I always enjoy your visits, Lucy. They make the day not quite as annoying. Those _fricks_ that keep making fun of me and my store... no, you understand it. I appreciate your company."

"I know that feeling all too well. My family almost never takes me seriously, always saying that I'm "too dramatic" and that "it's just a phase." she sighed. "It's sad that they don't understand these sorts of things…"

"I'm sure your family will understand as time goes on, my dear." Ripley assured. "Even if they don't enjoy the mystery and darkness, their hearts are bright, and will support you if needed."

"I sure hope so." Lucy made her way to the shelves. Said shelves were lined with an array of things like gem-encrusted goblets, dusty books said to contain spells and recipes, and intricate statues of dragons and lions and skulls, among other things. She stopped to take a look at some of them, inspecting them closely for every little detail.

"If I can make a suggestion, there's a series of new items I've acquired, that I've not exposed on the shelves. They're too precious, it's not for any customer. I may show them to you, if you wish so."

The goth turned her attention away from the dragon statue she was looking at. "That would be nice."

"Follow me." He guided Lucy to a door behind the counter, after leaving a letter outdoors telling he'd be back in a few minutes. They walked through a small corridor until they reached the second door to the left. Inside, a few items were displayed in their own individual cases.

"These items are those I found with the most… meaning and mystery behind their stories. The value of such knowledge is priceless, yet the physical object is… not something to be simply ignored." He walked around the room and beckoned her inside. "I keep them here instead, so that they may not be disturbed by those who are not worthy of acquiring them… or their power. Which, unfortunately, is most of the people that come in. They think this is just a souvenir shop. Bunch of ignorants, without appreciation to the dark arts."

"Tell me about it. The very thought of some of the people I've seen in here being allowed access to this is just... " She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out another sigh.

"Don't worry about it, my dear. Have a look around, see if there's something that you like!" he insisted. "There are some really interesting stories resting in this room."

Lucy nodded. "I'm sure that there are. Thank you for showing me this, I didn't even know of half of these even existed until now."

"It's my pleasure. Now, if you don't mind, I must go back to the main floor in case someone else comes in." With that, the shopkeeper walked out of the room and left Lucy to her own devices. "Oh, in case you find anything you like, be free to bring it to me back in the counter." he explained, as he returned to his post.

"Will do." she responded. Each of the antiques in the room were unique in their own way. She could tell even if some of their physical appearances did not give off that sort of vibe. After all, one of the biggest lessons in life, is to know not to judge a book by its cover.

As she got closer to some of the objects in their individual cases, she couldn't help but feel that one of them was pulling at her. It was an odd feeling, compelling her to go to it. The closer she got to it, the stronger the feeling was. The object in question was a mask.

It was a wolf mask, deep onyx in color with ice blue and crimson red markings. The eye holes were lined with blue and each one had three red dots underneath. The blue also outlined its protruding snout lined with glistening white teeth. The inner ears were colored red and the grooves inside of them white. There was no bottom half of it.

She found it to be somewhat more attractive that most other pieces she have found before. Following the shopkeeper's orders, she carefully took the mask out of its stand, and slowly took it to him. She wouldn't want to risk damaging something that wasn't hers to begin with, and especially not something so precious in itself.

"AND THE NEXT TIME YOU THINK A BOOK ON THE DARK ARTS OF CRYPTIDS OF KIEVAN RUS IS SOME KIND OF JOKE, I'LL DO MUCH MORE THAN JUST KICK YOU OUT!" Lucy heard a scream which almost made her drop the item in her hands. Luckily, though, she managed to catch it midway. She decided it would be best to go a bit quicker and assure the mask would reach the place safely.

She arrived and placed the mask on the counter, the noise making Ripley turn around. His face was red, but soon regain its slightly pale tone. "Oh, I suppose you found something you appreciated?"

"Mhm. How much would this mask cost?" she asked, taking out the money she had brought with her.

"Oh, the Mask of Aksum." He adjusted his glasses. "Such artifact comes from a small group of people from the same name. It's said that the Egyptians were invading their village, but a group of five warriors, each with one mask like this, managed to fight them back. It's told to make humans grow strength and abilities not possible otherwise." Even he seemed to be impressed by its story. "This one is the only one of those masks that have been recovered intact; the other four are either missing or heavily damaged." He explained. "Oh sorry, what were you asking?"

"How much would it cost?" she repeated. "It is very interesting, though, I must say."

"Hmm, let me see," he took all of Lucy's money and began counting, before returning it all back. "You know, I can definitely see a connection between you and this mask. It'd be a shame to charge you for it." he mused.

Lucy hesitated for a second, before taking it back. "Are you sure? I mean, it _must_ be high in value and all."

Ripley gave a small smile. "It surely has, little girl, but I'm positive that you'll take care of it even better than I ever could. Consider it a gift. I couldn't keep my favorite customer away from something so special."

Lucy gave a small smile in return. "If you insist. Thank you." He took the mask , packet it up, she took it of the counter and waved goodbye as she exited the shop.

"I look forward to your next visit."

"As do I, perhaps I'll visit soon."

* * *

Night fell on the not-quite humble Loud abode, with everyone having just finished dinner and going back to their usual rowdiness. Lola was chasing Lana around with a handful of glitter, the former trying to get back at her for trekking mud into the house yet again. Luna was playing her electric guitar, Luan was making puns, Lynn and Lincoln were sparring in a bout of Lucha Libre, with Lynn in the middle of elbow-dropping in the white-haired boy. Leni was painting Lori's nails as she talked to her beloved Boo-Boo Bear on the phone, and Lisa was inspecting the mud Lana had tracked in. Also know as a quiet night.

Meanwhile, Lucy was up in her and Lynn's shared bedroom, sitting in her coffin bed writing a poem. The room was just barely illuminated enough for her to be able to see what she was writing, Lynn's football lamp glowing faintly. She was having a hard time to focus, like some sort of energy was stealing all of her attention. She glanced toward the source. She saw the mask she had gotten earlier, sitting next to her Edwin bust that she kept on a little table. Something about it was just… attractive.

She approached the object, taking a closer look in the weak light. Once again, the pull got stronger and stronger with each step closer. When she held it in her hands, the feeling shook her body. It felt ice cold, and at the same time warm, somehow. She could have sworn she heard quiet whispering coming from the mask. She couldn't make out what the words were, if there were any.

Soon enough, she couldn't bear the feeling anymore, and slid the mask onto her face. The feeling lessened somewhat, but other than that, nothing else seemed to change. She had to admit, though, it had a good feeling, like she had just received a new boost of energy on her whole body. Suddenly, she heard a door open behind her.

"Hey there, Luce, how's it go-" Lynn's eyes went wide open, before she covered her mouth, so she wouldn't laugh.

"What, what's so funny?" Lucy demanded, turning around but not taking off the mask.

"Oh, nothing," Lynn held her laugh, but couldn't stop smiling. "It-it's n-nothing, it's just that I though Lana was the one who'd dress like an animal." Lynn suddenly broke out in laughter, no longer being able to hold it in.

A faint blush dusted Lucy's otherwise pale cheeks. She let out a low doglike growl.

"Whoa there, I was just teasing, no need to get mad at me!" Lynn pushed her hands in front of her but didn't back away. She kept her smile though. She was sure Lucy wouldn't hurt her in a one on one fight. One, they were sisters, two, Lucy had better options that wouldn't lead to immediate defeat. And three, Lynn was _pretty sure_ that even if Lucy tried, she wouldn't even be able to inflict anything more than a light slap.

Lynn headed towards her bed and jumped in. "I see you went to that weirdo's goth shop? Nice mask, but I've seen better. Lana's werewolf costume from last year's Halloween, for one thing."

Lucy sighed and walked back to the coffin.

"What, so you're just gonna ignore me 'cause I poked some fun at ya?"

Lucy simply turned around and gave Lynn a death glare, which made her freeze at the sight of her eyes between the eyeholes. Her bangs no longer covered them, instead revealing piercing yellow eyes, like those of a wolf.

"Wow, actually, I take it back. You're doing even better than Lana." Lynn had to give credit where it was due. Part of it was that she was a bit afraid, but she wouldn't confess. She knew she didn't harm people, but she easily frightened them. Everyone else in the Loud House could certainly testify to that. "Well, I know I don't usually go to bed this early, but I had a pretty full day of practice _and_ two games, so… I'm nodding off. Night, Luce." She turned off the light, plunging the room into total darkness as Lucy continued to stare.

Although she didn't have perfect night vision, contrary to popular belief around the house, she could still see okay in the dark. She got up, placed the mask back where it was before, and went back to her bed, ready to call it a night. The second she shut her eyes, though, she heard a lonesome howl.

Lucy sat upright, making her way towards the window. She didn't see any figures outside, but she could still hear the howling. She noticed the full moon outside; it was gorgeous it all of its glory. After a few seconds, the howling stopped. For some strange reason that Lucy didn't know, she felt a sense of longing for the moon, and the howling, and the night. But even so, Lucy convinced herself to go to bed.

* * *

 ** _(A/N):_ This was originally supposed to be posted on Halloween, but well, things happened. Including motivational block, and working on other stuff. But, finally it's here! Let Taka and I know your thoughts on this chapter in the reviews, and hopefully chapter 2 will be out soon! Along with the next chapter of Glittery Secret... who knows?**


	2. Chapter 2

Morning time came around for Royal Woods, the sun shining through the windows of the Loud House. It wasn't the light that woke up one particular Loud, however.

Weird sounds of groaning and moaning, and a mattress twisting around came from Lucy's coffin. Lynn tried to sleep through it, since her alarm clock hadn't started beeping yet. It soon got to the point where she couldn't, though, and so forced herself out of bed. She rubbed the dead skin away from her eyes and the drool from her mouth, and slowly walked towards her roommate's bed. Lynn rapped her knuckles on the wooden surface and said, "Wakey, wakey, Lucy."

Lucy immediately popped right out, scaring the living daylights out of Lynn and making her let out a girlish yelp. "And that's the benefit of having you as a roommate. An even better wake-up call than coffee." Something about her seemed off though… she seemed _paler_ than usual. If that was even possible. "Also, I heard you making weird noises, you okay?"

Lucy simply tilted her head in confusion and groaned again. She lay limply on the side of the coffin and carpeted floor. "I feel like I'm burning up…" she said, before laying down inside again. It only took a moment for Lynn to realize what that meant. Lynn quickly made her way out of her bedroom, into the hallway, and closed the door.

"EVERYONE, LUCY'S SICK AND WILL BE QUARANTINED IN HER BEDROOM UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! I REPEAT, LUCY IS SICK!" she shouted, scaring the living daylights out of the Louds that were sleeping before. They scattered out of their rooms and all throughout the house like cockroaches after a light had been turned on. After all, nobody wanted to be contaminated. The last time that happened… _that was Hell On Earth._ Even felt like it with the feverish symptoms from the flu virus.

After a few minutes, when all of the Louds were already downstairs, after going through a quick process of hygiene, they managed to organize themselves in order to avoid more chaos, and maybe gather some more information on their situation.

"Okay, who declared quarantine?" Lynn Sr asked.

"It was me, dad." Lynn told them. "Lucy was pale, and she was a bit weird."

Everyone looked at her like she was some sort of alien.

"Uh, Lynn," Lori said. "You literally just described Lucy. With or without sickness."

"No, I mean, she was even paler." Lynn explained. "She kept moving around in her bed, making noises, and apparently found it hard to sleep. She was groaning a lot when I talked to her, and apparently, she also has a fever. I don't know what it is, but it definitely is something." She crossed both her arms on her chest.

"Ah, Lucy's, like, not feeling okay?" Leni asked.

"That's what it seems." Lynn said.

"Yeah, dude, but can't she just be having a headache?" Luna asked.

"I'm not going to take any risks." Lynn said. "Better make sure most of us are healthy than risking checking her out."

"I think we should still check her out." Rita said. "We can't simply leave her in her room."

"But what if she _is_ sick, and she escapes?" Lola asked. "I can't risk getting sick, I have a pageant in 3 days."

"There is no need to worry, fellow family units." A voice came from upstairs, and what appeared to be some sort of dwarf astronaut was there holding a briefcase. "This suit shall allow me to analyze our sibling/daughter's condition, avoiding any sort of possible contamination to others."

"Lisa?" Most of them asked.

"I'll be protected against any sort of danger. I'll only take a few instances." Lisa said. Everyone went upstairs, and then Lisa opened the door as little as possible and squeezed herself inside. She knocked on the coffin bed too. "Older sibling unit, it's me, Lisa. Lynn informed the family you might have contracted an illness of some sort, and I would like to run some tests just in case. Confirm to me, are you feeling any symptoms?"

Lucy popped out again, startling Lisa. Even if she found the suit quite unusual "Yeah, I've certainly had better days. I might have a fever or something, though I also feel nauseous."

"Those are certainly good indicators of some sort of sickness. Now," Lisa opened her briefcase, revealing all sorts of equipment. "It's time for your examination."

Lucy frowned, but didn't protest. At that point, she found the process to be no different from when Lisa liked and was allowed to use them test subjects for her experiments. And for the next 15 minutes, Lucy passed through a series of exams, from temperature and pressure measurement, to blood collecting and analysis. Every once in a while, Lisa took notes of the results collected.

"Okay, based on everything I've been able to determine on this short minutes, I've got good and bad news, one of each. The bad one is that I can't determine what you have."

"And what's the good one?" Lucy asked.

"I'll most likely be able to identify it on the autopsy."

Lucy just maintained her same emotionless expression.

"You're hard to scare, older sibling unit, that's a fact." Lisa said. "Childish behavior aside, I was not capable of finding a source of your symptoms. Everything seems to be working properly in your body. While there are some tests I didn't manage to do due to the short period of time I have before my presence to go to school is required, I'd recommend that you rest, at least for now, to avoid any sort of development of the sickness."

"Okay. And… you see that wolf mask near me?" Lucy asked.

Lisa looked around in confusion before noticing it. "Yes. It sure is a fine piece of art. Why do you ask?"

"It helps me relax. Could you hand it to me, please?"

Lisa raised an eyebrow at the odd request. "Err…I'm not exactly sure on how it would help you relax, but if you say so, I'm not the one to argue with someone's preferences." She did so and Lucy immediately put it on, even moving the bangs from her eyes to not cover the eyeholes. She turned to face Lisa again, gave a quick thank-you, and lay down again. Lisa was heading towards the door and was about to leave and explain the rest of the family Lucy's situation. She found a few things a bit strange, but maybe the strangest was the fact that Lucy's eyes were _yellow_. She couldn't remember any other moment she saw those, but they was sure looked to be the hue of yellow a human wouldn't show in regular conditions. In fact, they seemed oddly _wolflike_. For all she knew, though, it could've just been a result from the illness. Or maybe she just made a mistake, after all, she only had the chance to give them a quick glance.

She couldn't help but continue to think about it, though. What if it was something else? It could be something even worse than a sickness. Maybe something affected her liver, and she didn't catch it on the blood analysis, which was a bit unlikely. Still, she made sure that she'd make more examinations later that day., just to be safe.

Right now, though, she and the rest of her siblings had school and Lily had daycare. She explained that Lucy showed some symptoms, though her exams showed nothing wrong with her. So, they assumed that, for now, letting her rest was the best medicine. Well, Luan thought it was laughing, but even she knew that was something nearly impossible. When was the last time Lucy laughed? Had she ever done so at all? Was she even capable of doing so? Luan someday would still answer those questions.

After a series of different classes according to each and every siblings day schedule and grade, the Louds finally started to make their way home. Due to some of them having different dismissal times, some were able to get a ride home in Vanzilla while others had to walk home. Lucy was the only one of the elementary school kids who didn't have to face that path that day. While it may sound odd that the older kids (minus Lynn) were the ones that got a ride, it actually worked just fine for the Louds.

Lynn announced her presence by kicking to front door open, having jogged all the way from Royal Woods Middle School. Lisa and the twins were all on the couch watching an episode of Blarney The Dinosaur, seemingly content until Lisa tried to change the channel to a documentary after the first half of the episode ended and subsequently got attacked by Lola and Lana over the remote. Lynn chuckled and went into the kitchen for an afternoon snack for herself, which for her was a sub meant for two people.

Just then, she saw Lucy in there digging in the fridge and… wearing that wolf mask from yesterday?

"Luce, what you doing here?" Lynn asked keeping her distance. "Weren't you supposed to be resting?"

"I'm actually feeling a lot better. The spirits helped to heal me."

"Are you sure? No offense, but we don't want any sickness from you nor anyone. And what's with that mask?"

Lucy took out an entire pack of bacon and closed the refrigerator door, turning to face her older sister with those yellow eyes of hers again. "The mask is comforting." she simply said, and put all the slices of bacon from the pack into the microwave.

"And hey, save some bacon for us too! There's a lot left in there."

"Says the girl that eats meatball subs like they were candy." Lucy replied.

"That's because they practically _are_ candy! But, point proven. Speaking of subs, move over a sec, I gotta go get one." Lucy obliged and Lynn pulled out a nearly-footlong sub that was bunched up together to save space. When she was about to give a bite of it, however, she noticed that Lucy was staring directly to towards her. "What?"

"Looks tasty." Lucy said.

Lynn raised an eyebrow. "You… like subs? Never saw you eat one."

"It's just look so good…" Lucy said, as she began approaching the snack, but Lynn quickly moved it away.

"Hey, you have your bacon already. Stay away from my food."

Lucy gave a low and barely-audible growl but was interrupted by the beeping sound from the microwave, signaling that her meal was ready. Quicker than Lynn ever saw Lucy move, she popped it open, took the plate out and dashed upstairs into her room. Even faster than the time Lola threatened her with glitter over the last slice of pie.

" _What the-?_ " Lynn thought. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and took a bite out of the 11-inch-sandwich. " _Something just doesn't seem right…"_

In the living room, Lisa noticed someone dashing upstairs in a rush, while the twins still fought for the remote. When Lynn appeared in her sights, she got even more confused, as she was the most likely to reach such amount of speed. She approached Lynn. "Older sibling, who was the one that managed to elevate their speed on such a high rate?"

Lynn slowly swallowed the piece she had bitten off and answered, "Lucy."

"Our fifth youngest sibling? She was supposed to remain in her bedroom. I shall see what's going on." Lisa said. She made her way upstairs and entered Lucy and Lynn's bedroom. "Sibling, I'm sorry to interrupt, however… why are you consuming such a high amount of salt-cured pork at the moment? I doubt that doing so while ill would be a good idea."

"Because I'm hungry." Lucy answered flatly, and went back to tearing into the strips of bacon.

"It's understandable that your stomach might require you to ingest alimentary products, however there are much healthier and better options to choose from."

"Let me guess, soup?"

"That's one suggestion. And probably one of the most effective to healing certain diseases." Lisa said. "Speaking of which, we shall proceed with the more detailed examinations, in order to conclude what illness you posses."

"Can I finish eating first, though? I haven't eaten all day. And what kind of examinations?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to continue to consume this product until we conclude what sickness is present on your body." Lisa explained, taking the plate out of her reach. "As for the examinations, I'll do everything in my reach, from X-ray, sample collection, internal inspections, and others."

Lucy let out another low growl, which was somewhat louder than before. She managed to stop herself from lunging at her little sister, though. Even though she had just taken her bacon away. Oh well, she could always get it back right after, right?

"Actually." Lucy said. "I'm feeling quite better now. I don't think we'll need those exams-"

"Nonsense. It's required for me to realize these tests so that I'm capable of providing an accurate update on your health."

"I said I'm fine, Lisa. Maybe it was just a passing thing, a hit-and-run cold."

"Even if your theory is correct, these sorts of symptoms do not heal with such speed. A cold usually lasts a minimum of 24 hours."

"Well, then this is the exception. I'm okay now, Lisa."

"Older sibling, I believe you don't comprehend how important these exams are to-"

"Lisa, I'm fine!" Lucy snapped, the aggressive tone catching the scientist off-guard. Never had any of the Louds heard her raise her voice, except for when she squealed in delight over learning that Ronnie Anne had a crush on Lincoln. And even than, there were doubts if she actually did so. "Now can I please have my bacon back?"

"S-sure…" Lisa said, a bit frightened. "But I have to inform you that this is not the wisest choice, when it comes to your health." Lucy gave her another glare, which was enough to get the nerd out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Primarily, the symptoms showed earlier today, followed by an aggressive behavior and change of emotional expression." Lisa said to herself. "There's certainly something unusual happening with her. And it's my obligation to find out what. However, I'll need some sort of physical protection and strength. Before that, though, I must prepare my equipment." Lisa said, as she headed towards her room.

Lucy watched her exit the room and her range of vision before going back to the meal that had been taken from her. That surge of anger was… strange. Usually when she was angry, it would come off as tranquil. Due to not being used to it, her vocal cords had tightened considerably due to her raising her voice. Instead of thinking it over even further, she chose to go back to eating the bacon in front of her.


End file.
